everyday wonders + simple enchantments of daily life
+ good things to do + adapting a bit of the serene life of ancient abbeys to modern life at home

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

The Hour of the Soul

It's 4 a.m., the hour of the soul,

the time I often return from the land of sleep

to feed my spirit with an hour or two of solitude.

It's a mystery...awakening. Is it done in a fleeting second or does it take minutes?
As I rouse from my drowse, I'm conscious of consciousness, of memory, and thoughts.

I'm aware of my body renewed by rest, the quiet of the night, and the intimacy of darkness. I thank heaven and its sparkling stars for the physical pleasures and privileges of owning a bed, something so many in this world can't enjoy. Slipping away on cat's feet, I leave my sleeping companion behind and glide away to my solitary world before reality comes up with the sun.

It's like the early morning call to worship in the chapel of an ancient abbey where scriptures are read by candlelight and hymns are sung in one-voice a capella, except this is a call to gather at Our Lady of Perpetual Blogging, Twittering, and Facebooking where words and pictures are read by the light of the computer screen. Where I go to hear a choir of voices...and to sing in response. To commune with creative spirits and offer prayers for virtual friends.

I'm not alone in my early morning romp. I have a sisterhood. Carmen, my neighbor on the left, doesn't sleep well now that Jack is gone so she roams her house in the early hours of the morning. Silhouetted in the unlit window of Jack's old room, she keeps his spirit close to her while she gazes at the moon. On the other side of my house, Barbara, another insomniac, brews coffee at 4 a.m. while she catches up on email. She says she often sees lights on at my house while she's wandering through her rooms. With a wink, she says, "We should get together for coffee as long as we're up!" But we never do.

27 comments:

Anonymous
said...

oh to be the first to comment on this treasure of a post!you have captured the early morning solitude perfectly. i love the thought of your being able to see the light of each neighbor on the side and knowing you have the early morning quietness in common.i am an early morning person. have always been. the perfect time.and today... made even more perfect by the closeness of coming rain.cheers and abbey hugs,tammy j

Imperfect prose - I think not. Beautiful post. I must say, though, that I am your counterpart. I roam the aisles of my home before 3am. By 4, I am finally asleep. I'm thinking that you are more productive with a few hours of sleep under your belt.

So nicely said Becky...I can feel and here the peace and quiet. What a nice thought for you to know that their is a shared enjoyment in the early hours of the morning. I know that feeling...when you are up, your up...best to just enjoy. :)

Beautiful BeckyYou've created a magic feeling with these words.. I love that quiet alone time and you have described it so well.. I can understand it's nice to know that others are there ... in their own solitude ... but you don't want to break the spell of your own piece of quiet time...

i often wake at 4 or 5 am, (unfortunately wakened by pain.) but as you say, it's a good opportunity to think, to pray, to be in silent communion. and i like to see the friendly lights of my near neighbors, too. i love the way you described the early morning call to worship in the abbey - i think i'll remember that the next time i get that early morning wake up call. and i, too, am glad for the fellowship i find through this odd virtual world. perhaps because we share our souls here - our hopes and dreams and fears and loves - we connect more readily than if we met in the "real" world, where social conventions call for polite small talk about the weather...

What a beautiful picture of redeeming the time. For some reason, I often find myself awake between 2 and 3 a.m. Sometimes I get up and read. Usually I stay in bed and pray or offer, in silence, hymns I know by heart back to God.

We are so alike!....that is exactly what i am doing right now!...it is my time....special. cozy, intimate moments with distant, like minded, creative, insomniac people.... i wake up so i can have this time alone....to watch the dawn break and find out what is happening in blogger land....good morning!

I get up an hour early just to get that time. I used to dread the thought of a 5:30 alarm sounding. Now it goes off at 4:30 and sometimes I set it for 4 if I've some school things to do that I was too tired to do the night before. There is peace in the darkness outside and the quiet inside as hubby slumbers away and the cats creep out on the screened-in porch (and I huddle in a blanket, so they can--the French doors are rt. by my computer armoire) with eyes big and searching.I've come to love this time doing just as you do--my cyberspace reach-out.

Hello Becky. Just straight inside to say hello. Nice that you have learned a few Danish words. I've got my school English refresh when I write in English. Thanks for your comment on my blog. Here in Denmark we have Morten's night today, ie. that many eating and / rice a la mande (a tradition) I've soon as Thanksgiving Day (it's not the last Sunday in November?). Wishing you a good Thursday. Hugs Hanne Bente ♥